Ecuador suspends five players after late-night stop out before Argentina qualifier

13th October 2017

October 13 – Five Ecuadorian players have been suspended from the national side for indiscipline following this week’s 3-1 home defeat to Argentina which sent the visitors through to the World Cup finals.

The five players reportedly left the team hotel without permission before the clash in Quito, the Ecuadorian Football Federation announced without identifying the culprits though Ecuadorian news outlet El Comercio named them as Enner Valencia, Jefferson Orejuela, Robert Arboleda, Gabriel Cortés and Joao Plata.

“Once (coach) Jorge Celico’s report was with us, with the details of all the facts, the committee decide unanimously to suspend indefinitely the five players involved from all Ecuadorian national team activities,” a statement said.

“The act of indiscipline they committed was to have left the national team headquarters at midnight Friday and return at 02.20 in the morning. It is a very hard decision, painful for the boys, but undoubtedly was a decision that had to be made, setting a precedent for the future, for the next players called to the national team.”

Despite taking maximum points from their first four qualifiers, Ecuador missed out on qualification alongside Chile having played in three of the last four World Cups.